Network connectivity unit for hospital bed

ABSTRACT

A hospital bed is programmable with new firmware that is downloaded to the bed over a network. The firmware is downloaded to the bed automatically from a remote computer device. The remote computer device receives a message from the hospital bed which includes data regarding the version number of the bed&#39;s current firmware, and if the version number indicates that the firmware is an outdated version, the remote computer device downloads a new version of the firmware to the bed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/554,696, filed Nov. 26, 2014, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. ______,which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/098,937, filedDec. 6, 2013, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,917,166, which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/629,708, filed Sep. 28,2012, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,604,917 on Dec. 10, 2013, which isa continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/959,486, filed Dec. 3,2010, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,284,047 on Oct. 9, 2012, and whichis a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/672,367, filed Feb. 7,2007, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,852,208 on Dec. 14, 2010, each ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference herein and which claimed thebenefit, under 35 U.S.C. §119(e), of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/773,286 which was filed Feb. 13, 2006 and which is herebyincorporated by reference herein; and U.S. application Ser. No.11/672,367 also claimed priority as a continuation-in-part of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/189,781, which was filed on Jul. 27, 2005and which claimed the benefit, under 35 U.S.C. §119(e), of U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/652,699 filed Feb. 14, 2005;of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/642,692 filed Jan.10, 2005; and of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/598,045filed Aug. 2, 2004; each of which is hereby incorporated by referenceherein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to hospital beds and particularly, todata communication from hospital beds to other devices in a healthcarefacility. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to datacommunication from hospital beds to remote computer devices and/or toportable wireless communication devices carried by caregivers.

Some hospital beds are configured to communicate information to a nursecall system. Such nurse call systems typically have a computer at aremote nurse's station with a display on which information concerningbed status is shown. One or more nurse call buttons are sometimesprovided on a hospital bed, such as on one or more siderails of the bedand/or on a handheld pendant that is coupled to the bed. A patient maypress one of the nurse call buttons to request to speak with a nurse. Anurse at the remote nurse's station and the patient may communicate witheach other over a two-way communications link which includes audiocircuitry, such as a microphone and a speaker included on the bed ormounted on a room wall near the bed. In addition, the nurse at theremote nurse's station may use the computer to establish a two-waycommunications link between the remote nurse's station and a caregiverat some other location in a healthcare facility and/or between thepatient placing the nurse call and a caregiver at some other location inthe healthcare facility. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,561,412 and5,699,038.

Hospital beds that connect to nurse call systems, typically do so via awired connection established by a nurse call cable that extends betweenthe bed and an interface unit having a jack mounted on a wall orheadwall unit in the hospital room in which the bed is situated.Typically, a power cord from the bed also plugs into a power outlet onthe wall or headwall unit. Before the bed is moved from one location toanother in a healthcare facility, the nurse call cable and the powercord need to be unplugged. Caregivers sometimes forget to unplug thenurse call cable resulting in damage to the nurse call cable when thebed is wheeled away from the wall. When the bed arrives at its newlocation, the caregivers need to remember to plug in both the power cordand the nurse call cable. When the nurse call cable is unplugged, bedstatus data is no longer communicated to the nurse call system. Inaddition, many prior art nurse call systems are configured as local areanetworks (LAN's) which require the installation in the healthcarefacility of the associated LAN infrastructure, such as the bed interfaceunits and the wiring from the bed interface units to the computer at theremote nurse's station.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention comprises a system, apparatus and/or method thathas one or more of the following features and/or steps, which alone orin any combination may comprise patentable subject matter:

A hospital bed may have wireless communication circuitry. The wirelesscommunication circuitry may be operable to transmit bed status datawirelessly to a network and to receive messages wirelessly from thenetwork. The wireless communication circuitry may also be operable totransmit bed location data wirelessly to the network to indicate alocation in a healthcare facility at which the hospital bed is located.The bed location data may comprise data received from a unit mounted toa wall in a room of the healthcare facility. The wireless communicationcircuitry may be operable to transmit housekeeping data wirelessly tothe network to indicate that the hospital bed needs to be cleaned. Thehousekeeping data may be transmitted in response to a person pressing abutton on the hospital bed.

The wireless communication circuitry may be operable to transmit patientweight data wirelessly to the network. The patient weight data may betransmitted wirelessly in response to a query initiated by a caregiverat a remote computer. The wireless communication circuitry may beoperable to transmit patient position mode data wirelessly to thenetwork. The patient position mode data may be indicative of which of aplurality of modes a patient position monitor of the hospital bed isoperating. A first mode of the patient position monitor of the bed maybe a movement mode in which patient movement of a first amount isdetected. A second mode of the patient position monitor of the bed maybe an egress mode in which patient movement of a second amount greaterthan the first amount is detected. A third mode of the patient positionmonitor may be an exit mode in which patient movement of a third amountgreater than the second amount is detected. The wireless communicationcircuitry may be operable to transmit alarm data wirelessly to thenetwork to indicate that a condition associated with the selectedpatient position mode has been violated.

The bed status data may include lockout data to indicate that at leastone bed motor has been locked out by a caregiver such that a patient isunable to operate the motor using one or more bed controls. The bedstatus data may include turn assist data to indicate whether a turnassist feature of a mattress of the hospital bed is being used. The bedstatus data may include max inflate data to indicate whether a maxinflate feature of a mattress of the hospital bed is being used. The bedstatus data may include heel suspension data to indicate whether a heelsuspension mode of a mattress of the hospital bed is being used.

The bed status data may include surface therapy data transmittedwirelessly to the network to indicate whether a surface therapy featureof a mattress of the hospital bed is being used. The surface therapydata may indicate whether at least one of the following surfacetherapies is being used: low air loss, continuous lateral rotation,alternating pressure, sequential pressure, percussion, and vibration.The surface therapy data may indicate a parameter, such as pressure,time, frequency, angle of rotation, percentage of rotation, flow rate,and the like, associated with the surface therapy. The surface therapydata may indicate that an alarm condition, such as loss of pressure oran interruption in the associated therapy, is occurring.

The bed status data may include battery data to indicate a status of abattery of the hospital bed. The battery data may indicate at least oneof the following: that the battery is present on the bed, that thebattery is absent from the bed, that the battery is fully charged, andthat the battery needs charging. The bed status data may include ACpower data to indicate whether the hospital bed is connected to ACpower. The bed status data may includes service data to indicate thatthe hospital bed needs to be serviced. The bed status data may includeCPR release data to indicate that a CPR release handle of the hospitalbed has been activated to rapidly lower a head section of the bed. Thebed status data may include head angle data to indicate an angle atwhich a head section of the hospital bed is inclined. The head angledata may indicate the angle at which the head section of the hospitalbed is inclined relative to some other portion of the hospital bed,relative to horizontal, or relative to vertical.

The hospital bed may have an indicator to indicate whether the hospitalbed has established wireless communications with the network. Thehospital bed may have an indicator to indicate whether a template ofalarm conditions has been set up for the hospital bed at a remotecomputer device coupled to the network. One or both of the indicator toindicate that wireless communications have been established and theindicator to indicate that an alarm condition template has been set upmay comprise a light emitting diode on a siderail or on a base frame ofthe bed. The hospital bed may have a button that is pressed to suspendthe template of alarm conditions at the remote computer device so thatchanges in bed status do not result in alarm messages at the remotercomputer device and/or at portable wireless communication devicescarried by caregivers.

The hospital bed may be programmable with new firmware that isdownloaded to the bed. The firmware may be downloaded to the bedautomatically from a remote computer device. The remote computer devicemay receive a message from the hospital bed which includes dataregarding the version number of the bed's current firmware, and if theversion number indicates that the firmware is an outdated version, theremote computer device may download a new version of the firmware to thebed. The firmware may be downloaded to the bed according to a filetransfer protocol (FTP). The wireless communication circuitry may beoperable to transmit a message in which is embedded an IP addressassociated with a remote computer to which the message is destined. Thewireless communication circuitry may be operable to transmit a messagein which is embedded an IP address and/or a MAC address associated withthe hospital bed.

The wireless communication circuitry may be operable to transmit an XMLmessage. The wireless communication circuitry may be operable to convertthe XML message into ASCII format prior to transmission. The wirelesscommunication circuitry may be operable to transmit a message to apreprogrammed e-mail address in response to a preprogrammed eventoccurring on the hospital bed. The wireless communication circuitry maybe operable to transmit a heartbeat signal. The heartbeat signal mayincludes a copyright notice. The copyright notice may comprise a companyname and a year. The heartbeat signal may be transmitted at least onceper minute. The wireless communication circuitry may be configured toresend the heartbeat signal if a heartbeat received message is notreceived by the hospital bed within a predetermined period of time thatis less than one minute.

The wireless communication circuitry may be operable to transmitconfiguration data to indicate the capabilities of the hospital bed. Thehospital bed may have a TCP/IP port to which at least one other deviceis couplable and the wireless communication circuitry of the hospitalbed may be operable to transmit wirelessly device data received from theat least one other device. The wireless communication circuitry may beoperable to transmit wirelessly according to the 802.11b or 802.11gprotocol.

According to this disclosure, a system for use with a network ofcomputer devices in a healthcare facility may comprise a hospital bedhaving first wireless communication circuitry operable to transmit bedstatus data wirelessly to the network and a surface supported by thehospital bed. The surface may have second wireless communicationcircuitry operable to transmit surface status data wirelessly to thenetwork. The second wireless communication circuitry may be operableindependent of the first wireless communication circuitry.

A frequency at which the first wireless communication circuitrytransmits may be different than a frequency at which the second wirelesscommunication circuitry transmits. The first and second wirelesscommunication circuitry may transmit wirelessly according to the 802.11bor 802.11g protocol.

The system may include a computer device coupled to the network remotelyfrom the hospital bed and the surface. The computer device may beoperable to receive the bed status data and to transmit a controlmessage to the surface in response to the bed status data received fromthe hospital bed. For example, if the bed status data indicates that aCPR release handle of the bed has been pulled, then the control messageto the surface may result in the surface going into a max inflate modeto harden the mattress in preparation for CPR to be performed on thepatient or, alternatively, the control message may result in the surfacecompletely deflating so that the patient is supported on underlying bedsections in preparation for CPR to be performed on the patient. Asanother example, if the bed status data indicates that casters of thehospital bed have been unbraked, then the command message to the surfacemay indicate that a therapy, such as lateral rotation therapy,alternating pressure therapy, percussion therapy, etc. should be stoppedin preparation for the bed being moved to a new location.

The computer device may be operable to receive the surface status dataand to transmit a control message to the hospital bed in response to thesurface status data received from the surface. For example, if thesurface status data indicates that lateral rotation therapy is active,then the control message to the hospital bed may lock out a head sectionmotor to prevent the head section from being raised during the lateralrotation therapy.

Also according to this disclosure, a system for use with a network ofcomputer devices in a healthcare facility may comprise a hospital bedhaving communication circuitry operable to transmit messages to thenetwork and a workflow computer system coupled to the network. Theworkflow computer system may be operable to assign tasks to staffmembers. At least one task assigned to at least one of the staff membersmay be assigned by the workflow computer system in response to receiptof a message transmitted from the communication circuitry of thehospital bed over the network.

The at least one task assigned to at least one of the staff members inresponse to the message may comprise a housekeeping task or a bedservice task. The housekeeping task may comprise cleaning the hospitalbed. The message transmitted from the communication circuit may comprisea wireless message. The hospital bed automatically may transmit themessage in response to a sensed condition of the hospital bed. Thehospital bed may transmit the message in response to a button, such as ahousekeeping button, on the bed being pressed by a person.

A network interface unit may be couplable to bed communicationscircuitry of a hospital bed and may be configured to communicate datavia a data link to a hospital Ethernet. The data link may comprise awired data link, a wireless data link, or both. The network interfaceunit may be configured to convert data received from the bed in a formataccording to a first protocol into a format according to a secondprotocol, such as an Ethernet protocol. The network interface unit maybe coupled to a legacy (i.e., existing) nurse call system and dataformatted according to the first protocol may be fed through the networkinterface unit and communicated to the legacy nurse call system whileremaining formatted according to the first protocol.

A hospital bed contemplated by this disclosure may comprise bed controlcircuitry for controlling a plurality functions of the bed and formonitoring at least some of the plurality of functions. The hospital bedmay also comprise a network interface circuit that is coupleable to ahospital Ethernet via a data link. The data link may comprise a wireddata link, a wireless data link, or both. The network interface circuitmay be configured to format data received from the bed control circuitryinto a format according to an Ethernet protocol.

A system according to this disclosure may comprise at least one computerdevice coupled to a hospital Ethernet which may have at least one wiredaccess point and at least on wireless access point. The system maycomprise a hospital bed having associated therewith bed identification(ID) data. The system may also comprise a network interface unit (NIU)coupled to the bed via a first data link. The NIU may have associatedtherewith NIU ID data. The NIU may have a communications port that iscoupleable to the Ethernet via a second data link. The NIU may beconfigured to sense whether the communications port is coupled to theEthernet via the second data link. If the NIU is coupled to the Ethernetvia the second data link then both the bed ID data received by the NIUand the NIU ID data may be transmitted by the NIU to the Ethernet overthe second data link. However, if the NIU is not coupled to the Ethernetvia the second data link then the NIU ID data received by the bed may betransmitted wirelessly by the bed to one of the wireless access pointsof the Ethernet along with the bed ID data.

Additional features, which alone or in combination with any otherfeature(s), such as those listed above, may comprise patentable subjectmatter and will become apparent to those skilled in the art uponconsideration of the following detailed description of variousembodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the embodimentsas presently perceived.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description particularly refers to the accompanyingfigures, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hospital bed having bedcommunication circuitry and a wired/wireless network interface unit thatis coupled to the bed communication circuitry and that is configured forcommunication with a hospital network via a wired interface and/or awireless interface;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram, similar to FIG. 1, showing a wired/wirelessnetwork interface unit integrated into the circuitry of the bed;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a network interface unit which has couplersfor coupling to a bed, a nurse call system, and a hospital Ethernet;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a hospital bed coupled to a nurse callsystem through the network interface unit and the hospital Ethernet;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a hospital bed coupled to the networkinterface unit and communicating wirelessly with the hospital Ethernet;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing multiple communication paths fromhospital beds, surfaces, and locators to a hospital Ethernet, theInternet, and one or more nurse call servers and/or computers;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a hospital bed and a surfacecommunicating wirelessly with the same wireless access point, showing abed communicating with a network interface unit, and showing thewireless access point and the network interface unit communicating withthe same Ethernet switch;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a hospital bed, withone enlarged portion of the view showing a user interface includingLED's to indicate whether or not wireless communications are enabled,whether or not wireless communications are online, and whether or nothousekeeping has been summoned to clean the associated bed and/orhospital room, and another enlarged portion of the view showing a labelhaving bed ID data;

FIGS. 9A and 9B are perspective views of beds according to anotherembodiment, with one enlarged portion of the view associated with one ofthe beds showing indicator LED's on a base frame of the bed to indicatewhether or not wireless communications are enabled and whether or notwireless communications are online, and another enlarged portion of theview associated with another of the beds showing a label having bed IDdata and a bar code;

FIG. 10 is a screen shot of a bed alert template that appears on adisplay screen of a computer at a nurse call station and that hasvarious check boxes, text boxes, and drop down menus for selection ofalert parameters to which one or more caregivers are to be alerted;

FIG. 11 is a screen shot of a therapy alert template that appears on adisplay screen of a computer at a nurse call station and that hasvarious check boxes, text boxes, and drop down menus for selection ofalert parameters to which one or more caregivers are to be alerted;

FIG. 12 is a state machine transition diagram showing how offline, link,safe, boot load, and online modes are logically interconnected; and

FIGS. 13-16 are flow charts which together show, in more detail, thelogic of a software algorithm of a wireless hospital bed in accordancewith the state machine transition diagram of FIG. 12.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

According to this disclosure a network interface unit 340 couples to ahospital bed 342 as shown in FIG. 1. Bed 342 includes bed controlcircuitry 344 which controls the various functions of bed 342 and thatmonitors the status of various bed functions. Bed 342 also includes bedcommunication circuitry 346 through which bed status data iscommunicated. Bed communications circuitry 346 includes a communicationsport designed for mating with a connector of a nurse call cable, such asa cable having a 37-pin connector, which, in turn, couples to a nursecall system. Interface unit 340 couples to the connector of circuitry346, such as via a pigtail connector extending from a housing of unit340, in lieu of the nurse call cable.

Unit 340 includes protocol conversion circuitry that converts the datawhich is received from bed 342 and which is formatted according to afirst protocol, such as a serial peripheral interface protocol (e.g.,the interface protocol described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,362,725) into aformat according to a second protocol, such as a standard Ethernetprotocol including the 802.11b wireless communication protocol. Unit 340includes a communications port, such as an RJ-45 port, which iscouplable via a cable to a wired interface 348 of a hospital network orEthernet 350. Interface 348 is an RJ-45 port in some embodiments. Unit340 also includes circuitry for communicating wirelessly with a wirelessinterface 352 of Ethernet 350. In some embodiments, interface 352comprises a wireless transceiver, such as an 802.11 access point. Thus,data received from bed 342 by unit 340 according to the first protocolis sent to interface 348 and/or interface 352 according to the secondprotocol. In addition, data received by unit 340 from network 350according to the second protocol is converted by unit 340 into theformat associated with the first protocol and then forwarded on tocircuitry 344 of bed 342 through circuitry 346. In some embodiments,unit 340 is configured to couple only to one or the other of interfaces348, 352. In some embodiments, the protocol conversion circuitry isomitted from unit 340 such that data is transmitted by unit 340according to the same protocol in which the data was received from bed340 and network 350 transmits data to unit 340 according to this sameprotocol.

In the illustrative example, data communicated from unit 340 to wiredinterface 348 is provided to a first network application 354 and datacommunicated from unit 340 to wireless interface 352 is provided to asecond network application 356 and to a third network application 358.Network applications include, for example, nurse call system software,admission-discharge-tracking (ADT) system software, electronic medicalrecords (EMR) system software, workflow system software, medical recordsarchiving system software, and the like. Two or more of these softwareapplications are stored in the same computer device, such as a server,in some embodiments. It is contemplated by this disclosure that a firstsubset of bed data is communicated to interface 348, but not tointerface 352, and that a second subset of bed data is communicated tointerface 352, but not to interface 348. It is also contemplated by thisdisclosure that the same bed data is communicated to both interfaces348, 352.

In some embodiments, unit 340 includes circuitry that determines whetheror not unit 340 is coupled to interface 348. In such embodiments, ifunit 340 is coupled to interface 348, then bed data will be communicatedvia the wired data link to interface 348 and no attempts will be made byunit 340 to communicate with interface 352. If, on the other hand, unit340 is not coupled to interface 348, then bed data will be communicatedvia the wireless data link to interface 352. Unit 340 may be coupled tointerface 348, for example, when bed 342 is stationary in a hospitalroom and unit 340 may be uncoupled from interface 348, for example, whenbed 342 is being transported through a healthcare facility from onelocation to another. Thus, unit 340 permits wireless communication withnetwork 350 during transport of bed 342.

Based on the foregoing description, it will be appreciated that units340 may be used to retrofit existing hospital beds with the ability tocommunicate with a hospital Ethernet either wirelessly and/or via awired connection according to an Ethernet protocol. However, hospitalbeds manufactured with the circuitry and functionality of units 340included therein are within the scope of this disclosure as depicted inFIG. 2 in which a network interface unit 360 is included as part of ahospital bed 362. Portions of FIG. 2 that are the same as, orsubstantially similar to, like portions of FIG. 1 are denoted with likereference numerals. In some embodiments, network interface units 340,360 may include connection ports for nurse call cables to provide feedthrough of bed data to legacy (i.e., existing) nurse call systems whichare not otherwise able to communicate with beds 342, 362 via thehospital Ethernet.

An electric circuit schematic of one embodiment of unit 340 is attachedas Appendix 1 to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/773,286 whichalready is incorporated by reference herein and which will be accessiblevia the USPTO website when the present application is published. Asmentioned above, in some embodiments, unit 340 communicates onlywirelessly such that unit communicates with wireless interface 352 ofnetwork 350 but not wired interface 348. In such embodiments, bedcommunications circuitry 346 may include a connection port for couplingto wired interface 348. Unit 340 is sometimes referred to herein as a“wireless communications module.”

According to this disclosure, hospital beds that were designedoriginally to transmit a limited set of bed status data are retrofittedwith circuitry to permit an increased set of bed status data to betransmitted from unit 340 wirelessly and/or via a wired connection. Ofcourse, beds manufactured originally with the capability to transmit theincreased set of bed status data are contemplated by this disclosure aswell. In such beds to be retrofitted with circuitry to permit anincreased set of bed status data to be transmitted, existing circuitry346 is removed and new bed communications circuitry 346 is installed inits place. In some embodiments of these retrofitted beds, unit 340 isconfigured to wirelessly transmit the increased set of bed status datawirelessly, whereas the bed circuitry 344 and/or the retrofittedcircuitry 346 may be configured to transmit the original set of bedstatus data via a wired connection to network 350. An electric circuitschematic of one embodiment of circuitry 346 which is designed to beretrofitted and/or to be installed originally on the VersaCare™ bedmarketed by Hill-Rom Company, Inc. was attached as Appendix 2 to U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/773,286 which already is incorporated byreference herein and which will be accessible via the USPTO website whenthe present application is published. An electric circuit schematic ofanother embodiment of circuitry 346 which is designed to be retrofittedand/or to be installed originally on the TotalCare® bed marketed byHill-Rom Company, Inc. was attached as Appendix 3 to U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 60/773,286.

One example of bed status data transmitted wirelessly by unit 340 frombed 342 is given below in Tables 1-3.

TABLE 1 Read - R 0x04 Write - W Location Auto 0x04 Bed Status MessagesByte Bit Name ID Broadcast - B Description Standard Bed Status StandardTemplate Brake Status 1 4 BedStatus 0x04 B 1 = Brake set, 0 = Brake notset Surface prevent mode 1 2 BedStatus 0x04 B 0 = Not activated, 1 =Activated Fall Prevention Bed Exit Armed 1 1 BedStatus 0x04 B 0 = Armed,1 = Not armed Bed Low Position 1 3 BedStatus 0x04 B 0 = Bed not down, 1= Bed down Head Rail Positions 1 6 BedStatus 0x04 B 0 = Not down, 1 =Down Restraints Head rail positions 1 6 BedStatus 0x04 B 0 = Not down, 1= Down Foot rail positions 1 5 BedStatus 0x04 B 0 = Not down, 1 = DownAs shown in Table 1, brake status data indicates whether a brake for oneor more of the casters of the hospital bed is set or not set; surfaceprevent mode data indicates whether a surface of the hospital bed is oris not activated to control air bladder pressures in a manner whichattempts to inhibit formation of pressure ulcers (e.g., bed sores); bedexit armed status to indicate whether or not bed exit system whichdetects whether or not a patient has exited the bed is armed or notarmed; bed low position data to indicate whether or not an upper framewhich carries a mattress support deck is in its lowest position relativeto a base frame of the bed; head rail position data to indicate whetherhead end siderails are up or down; and foot rail position data toindicate whether foot end siderails are up or down.

TABLE 2 Enhanced Bed Status Enhanced Fall Prevention PPM mode - Move 3 8BedStatus 0x04 B 0 = Not selected, 1 = Mode selected PPM mode - Startegress 3 7 BedStatus 0x04 B 0 = Not selected, 1 = Mode selected PPMmode - Patient exit 3 6 BedStatus 0x04 B 0 = Not selected, 1 = Modeselected PPM alarming 3 5 BedStatus 0x04 B 0 = Not selected, 1 = Modeselected Enhanced Restraints Right head rail position 2 1 BedStatus 0x04B 0 = Not down, 1 = Down Left head rail position 2 2 BedStatus 0x04 B 0= Not down, 1 = Down Right foot rail position 2 3 BedStatus 0x04 B 0 =Not down, 1 = Down Left foot rail position 2 4 BedStatus 0x04 B 0 = Notdown, 1 = Down Bed Safety Head Motor Lockout 2 5 BedStatus 0x04 B 0 =Not locked, 1 = Locked Knee Motor Lockout 2 6 BedStatus 0x04 B 0 = Notlocked, 1 = Locked High-Low Motor Lockout 2 8 BedStatus 0x04 B 0 = Notlocked, 1 = Locked All Motor Lockout 2 7 BedStatus 0x04 B 0 = Notlocked, 1 = Locked Wound Prevention Surface turn assist left mode 3 2BedStatus 0x04 B 0 = Not active, 1 = Active Surface turn assist rightmode 3 3 BedStatus 0x04 B 0 = Not active, 1 = Active Surface max inflatemode 3 4 BedStatus 0x04 B 0 = Not active, 1 = Active Heel suspensionmode 5 4 BedStatus 0x04 B 0 = Not active, 1 = Active Rotation mode 5 3BedStatus 0x04 B 0 = Not active, 1 = Active Optirest mode 5 2 BedStatus0x04 B 0 = Not active, 1 = Active Pulmonary Percussion 4 5 BedStatus0x04 B 0 = Not active, 1 = Active Vibration 4 6 BedStatus 0x04 B 0 = Notactive, 1 = Active Operational Alerts Housekeeping 5 1 BedStatus 0x04 B0 = Not active, 1 = Active (switch status, not bed cleaned status)Maintenance Alerts Battery status modes, 2 bits 4 2 BedStatus 0x04 B 0 0= No battery present 4 3 BedStatus 0x04 B 0 1 = Battery disconnected 1 0= Battery needs charging 1 1 = Battery fully charged AC power notpresent mode 4 1 BedStatus 0x04 B 1 = AC present, 0 = AC not presentService required light 4 4 BedStatus 0x04 B 0 = No service req'd, 1 =Service req'd Other Bed Data CPR mode 3 1 BedStatus 0x04 B 0 = Notactive, 1 = Active AC power present mode 4 1 BedStatus 0x04 B 1 = ACpresent, 0 = AC not present Nurse Call switch 4 7 BedStatus 0x04 B 0 =Not active, 1 = Active CareAlert Switch 4 8 BedStatus 0x04 B 0 = Notactive, 1 = Active

As shown in Table 2, patient position mode data indicates whether or nota patient position monitoring system of the hospital bed is in move modein which patient movement of a first amount is considered an alarmcondition, a start egress mode in which patient movement of a secondamount greater than the first amount is considered an alarm condition,or patient exit mode in which patient movement of a third amount greaterthan the second amount (including movement off of the bed) is consideredan alarm condition, and the patient position mode data also indicateswhether or not an alarm condition, of the selected mode, has occurred.As also shown in Table 2, siderail position data indicates whether eachof a right head rail, a left head rail, a right foot rail, and a leftfoot rail are in up or down positions; motor lockout data indicateswhether or not a head motor which is operable to raise and lower a headsection of the mattress support deck is locked out; whether or not aknee motor which is operable to raise and lower a thigh section (or seatsection) of the mattress support deck is locked out; whether or not oneor more high-low motors which are operable to raise and lower an upperframe carrying the mattress support deck relative to a base frame of thebed is locked out; and whether or not all of the motors just describedare locked out.

Table 2 further shows surface status data such as whether or not a leftturn assist mode or right turn assist mode to turn the patient, on aone-time basis, in one direction or another is active; whether or not amax inflate mode to inflate air bladders of the mattress to apreprogrammed maximum pressure to harden the surface for patienttransfer, patient ingress or egress, or CPR is active; whether or not aheel suspension mode to deflate bladders in a heel region of the patientto attempt to inhibit formation of pressure ulcers on the patient'sheels is active; whether or not a rotation mode to cyclically rotate thepatient to the left and to the right is active; whether or not anoptirest mode to sequentially inflate head zone bladders, seat zonebladders, and foot zone bladders is active; whether or not percussion topulsate one or more air bladders of the surface is active; and whetheror not vibration to vibrate one or more air bladders of the surface isactive. In other embodiments, the surface status data may indicatewhether or not a low air loss mode in which air is expelled fromopenings in the mattress to cool the patient and/or to transportmoisture away from the patient is active and/or whether or not analternating pressure mode in which sets of alternating bladders are eachinflated and deflated at different times so that different portions ofthe patient are primarily supported by different bladders sets atdifferent times is active.

As further shown in Table 2, housekeeping data indicates whether or nota housekeeping switch or button on the bed is active (e.g., has beenpressed) to request that a staff member clean the hospital bed and/orthe associated room; battery status data indicates whether or not abattery is present on the bed, whether or not the battery isdisconnected from bed circuitry, whether or not the battery needs to becharged, and whether or not the battery is fully charged; AC power dataindicates whether or not AC power is being received by the bed; servicedata indicates whether or not the bed needs to serviced; CPR mode dataindicates whether or not a CPR release handle of the bed, which causes ahead section of the mattress support deck to be lowered rapidly so thatCPR can be quickly administered to a patient, has been activated; nursecall data indicates whether or not a nurse call switch to request tospeak with a caregiver has been activated; and Care Alert data indicateswhether or not a Care Alert switch to enable and disable any Care Alertsset up in templates at a remote computer has been activated. activated.

TABLE 3 Object Dictionary Data Description Other Bed Management Bed Type0x02 record BedType 0x02 B Bed type byte, revision number Bed Location0x05 record BedLocation 0x05 R Wall ID, 4 bytes Pulmonary Head Angle ODentry Pulmonary <3262000 R Object dictionary entry 0x3262, 0x00 16-bitunsigned (VC), 16-bit signed (TC) Switches Installed Switches OD entryISwitches <3642000 R/W Object dictionary entry 0x3642, 0x00 1 4 1 =brake switch installed 0 = not installed 1 5 1 = siderail foot switchesinstalled, 0 = not installed 1 6 1 = siderail head switches installed, 0= not installed 1 7 1 = Nurse call switch input available, 0 = notavailable 1 1 1 = Bed exit info available, 0 = not available 1 3 1 = Beddown info available, 0 = not available Weight Patient Weight OD entryWeight <2180000 R Data in Hex format. Convert to decimal divide by 10 toget weight in pounds.

As shown in Table 3, bed type data indicates the type of bed (e.g.,manufacturer and model number) transmitting the data; bed location dataindicates the location in the healthcare facility at which the bed islocated; head angle data indicates an angle at which the head section ofthe mattress support deck is elevated relative to another portion of thebed, such as an upper frame or another deck section, or relative tohorizontal or vertical; switch installed data indicates whether or notone or more brake switches, siderail foot switches, siderail headswitches, and/or nurse call switches are installed on the bed;information availability data to indicate whether or not bed exit dataand/or bed low position data is available from the bed; and patientweight data indicates the weight of a patient as measured by a weighscale system of the hospital bed.

Table 1 above includes a list of standard bed status data similar tothat shown and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,561,412 and 5,699,038.However, according to this disclosure, the standard bed status data istransmitted wirelessly by unit 340 or unit 360 to wireless interface352. Tables 2 and 3 above each include a list of additional datatransmitted wirelessly from unit 340 or unit 360 to wireless interface352. Additionally or alternatively, any of the bed status data in any ofthe three above tables may be transmitted from bed 342 or bed 362 towired interface 348. The data is then used by one or more networkapplications 354, 356, 358 such as nurse call software which operates tocontact assigned caregivers when certain conditions on the bed aredetected, workflow software to assign tasks to caregivers and otherstaff members, locating-and-tracking software to track the whereaboutsof people and/or equipment, admission discharge and transfer (ADT)software, bed assignment software, and the like.

A network interface unit 366 which is used with a bed 364, but which isnot mounted to or integrated into the bed like units 340, 360 discussedabove, includes a first coupler or connector 368 which is coupleable tobed 364, a second coupler or connector 370 which is coupleable to anurse call system 372, and a third coupler or connector 374 which iscoupleable to a hospital Ethernet as shown in FIG. 3. Unit 366 may bemounted, for example, to a room wall or to a head wall unit in ahospital room. In the illustrative example, coupler 368 comprises afemale 37-pin interface that mates with a male 37-pin connector providedat the end of a cable extending from bed 364. Also in the illustrativeexample, coupler 370 comprises a male 37-pin interface that mates with afemale 37-pin connector provided at the end of a cable that couples tonurse call system 372. Illustrative connector 374 comprises an RJ-45Ethernet port which allows unit 366 to be coupled to the hospitalEthernet via an appropriate cable. Thus, connector 374 is sometimesreferred to herein as “port 374.”

When bed 364 is coupled to connector 368 and nurse call system 372 iscoupled to connector 370, communications between bed 364 and nurse callsystem 372 take place over a first data link 376, a second data link378, and a feed through data link 380. Data link 376 is establishedbetween bed 364 and connector 368. Data link 378 is established betweenconnector 370 and nurse call system 372. Data link 380 is establishedbetween connector 368 and connector 370. While data links 376, 378, 380are typically wired data links, it is within in the scope of thisdisclosure for one or more of data links 376, 378, 380 to be wirelessdata links, such as infrared (IR) or radio frequency (RF) data links. Inthe illustrative example, connectors 368, 370 are mounted to a connectorprinted circuit board (PCB) 382.

As mentioned above, connector 374 permits unit 366 to be coupled to ahospital Ethernet. Thus, data received from bed 364 and nurse callsystem 372 via data links 376, 378 may be transmitted to other devicesincluded in the hospital Ethernet through port 374. Port 374 is coupledto a processor PCB 384 to which is also coupled a processor 386 whichoperates under software control to convert data received from bed 364and system 372 from the received format into an appropriate formataccording to an Ethernet protocol, such as the TCP/IP protocol.Processor 386 has a set of general purpose input/output (GPIO)connectors 388 and a serial peripheral interface (SPI) connector 390.Connector 390 is coupled to 20 milliamp (mA) current loop hardware 392which, in turn, is coupled to connector 368 for communication of a SPIsignal 394. Connector 368 is also coupled to connectors 388 of processor386 for communication of a priority call interface signal 396, a nursecall interface signal 398, and a nurse call cancel signal 400 which isreceived from a cancel button 410 that is coupled to PCB 382.

Connector 370 is coupled to connectors 388 of processor 386 through afirst relay 412 and a second relay 414 for communication of a nurse callsignal 416 and a priority call signal 418, respectively. Processor 386is also coupled to an oscillator 420, a configuration module 422, and aset of status light emitting diodes (LED's) 424. Various memory devices,such as read only memory (ROM) 426, random access memory (RAM) 428, andan Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) 430 arealso coupled to processor 386. Various software applications 432 arestored in the memory devices for execution by processor 386. In theillustrative example, software applications 432 are stored in ROM 426and include real time operating system (RTOS) software and Ethernetsoftware such as Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) software,file transfer protocol (FTP)/telnet software, and extensible markuplanguage (XML) software. The given software types are intended to beexemplary, not exhaustive. Therefore, it is within the scope of thisdisclosure for all types of software allowing communications betweenunit 466 and a hospital Ethernet to be stored in one or more of devices426, 428, 430 and executed by processor 386.

Illustratively, processor 386 includes a debug module 434 which iscoupled via a data link 436 to a Joint Test Action Group (JTAG)connector 438. A diagnostic device may couple to connector 438 andperform boundary scanning to read and set the value of the pins ofprocessor 386 and optionally, to read and set the value of other deviceson PCB 384 and/or the internal registers of processor 386. Illustrativeprocessor further includes a 10/100 media access controller (MAC) module440 which operates to permit unit 366 to communicate with the hospitalEthernet at a data transmission rate of 10 Megabits per second (Mbps) or100 Mbps. Module 440 is coupled to an Ethernet physical layer (PHY)module 442 for communication of Media Independent Interface (MII)signals 444. Module 442 is coupled to an oscillator 446 and a set ofLED's 448. Module 442 is also coupled to, or optionally includes, anelectrical isolation device 450 such as a transformer. Device 450electrically isolates the data signals communicated on a data link 452between module 442 and connector 374.

Unit 466 includes an alternative direct current (DC) power port 454which is coupled to power regulation, protection, and brownout circuitry456 by one or more power conductors 458. Power from an external sourceis coupleable to port 454 and is used for operating the variouscomponents of unit 366. One or more power over Ethernet (PoE) conductors460 are also coupled to circuitry 456 so that, if connector 374 iscoupled to the hospital Ethernet, power from the Ethernet may be usedfor operating the components of unit 366. Circuitry 456 is also coupledto a Watchdog/Power On Reset circuit 462. Additional details of oneembodiment of unit 366 in accordance with this disclosure, including anelectric circuit schematic thereof, are shown in Appendix 4 which isattached hereto and considered to be part of this provisional patentapplication.

As mentioned above, unit 366 is coupleable via connectors 368, 370, 374to bed 364, nurse call system 372, and the hospital Ethernet,respectively. In the illustrative example, nurse call system 372 doesnot communicate according to an Ethernet protocol, but rather unit 366provides a connection between nurse call system 372 and the Ethernet andconverts data from system 372 into the appropriate format for Ethernetcommunication. In alternative arrangements, nurse call system 372 is notcoupled to connector 370 via data link 378, but rather nurse call system372 is configured to communicate via an Ethernet protocol and sends datato, and receives data from, unit 366 via port 374. In such alternativearrangements, unit 366 converts the data received via port 374 from thenurse call system into the appropriate format for communication to bed364 via connector 368 and data link 376.

Referring now to FIG. 4, nurse call system 372 is coupled to a hospitalEthernet 466 via a data link 468 and bed 364 is coupled to networkinterface unit (NIU) 366 via data link 376. Unit 366 is, in turn,coupled to Ethernet 466 via a data link 470 which is coupled to port 374of unit 366. Data links 376, 468, 470 are typically wired data links.However, it is within the scope of this disclosure for data links 376,468, 470 to be wireless. Referring now to FIG. 5, an alternativearrangement is shown in which bed 364 is configured to communicatewirelessly with a wireless access point transceiver 472 that is coupledto Ethernet 466. Bed 364 communicates bidirectionally with transceiver472 according to an appropriate Ethernet protocol and transceiver 472communicates bidirectionally with Ethernet 466 via a data link 474.

It will be appreciated that a hospital will have multiple beds, similarto bed 364, and multiple network interface units 366 associated with thevarious beds. Each unit 366 is mounted at a particular location in ahospital. For example, one or more units 366 will be located in variouspatient rooms. Each bed 364 and each unit 366 is assigned a uniqueidentification (ID) code, such as a serial number. In some embodiments,one or more of the computer devices of nurse call system 372 havesoftware that operates to associate bed ID data with NIU ID data so thatsystem 372 can keep track of which bed is located in each room of thehospital and convey this information to caregivers using system 372.

Processor 386 of unit 366 operates to determine whether or not port 374is coupled to Ethernet 466. Depending upon whether or not the unit 366is connected to Ethernet 466 via port 374, the data path of the bed IDdata and the NIU ID data to nurse call system 372 is different. If unit366 senses that port 374 is coupled to Ethernet 466 as shown in FIG. 4,for example, then the associated bed 364 sends its bed ID data to theunit 366, as indicated by arrow 476, and then unit 366 communicates itsNIU ID data and the bed's ID data to Ethernet 466 in packets throughport 374 as indicated by arrows 478, 480, respectively. If unit 366senses that port 374 is not coupled to Ethernet 466, as shown in FIG. 5,for example, then unit 366 sends its NIU ID data to the associated bed364, as indicated by arrow 482, and then bed 364 wirelessly transmitsits bed ID data and the NIU ID data to transceiver 472 in wirelesspackets as indicated by arrows 484, 486, respectively. The data path forother types of bed status data is the same path as that for bed ID datashown in FIGS. 4 and 5 depending upon whether or not unit 366 isconnected to Ethernet via port 374.

Beds 342, 362, 364 each have power cords (not shown) that are pluggedinto electrical outlets in hospital rooms during normal use of the beds342, 362, 364, regardless of whether the beds 342, 362, 364 communicatewith other devices in the associated network via wired or wirelessconnections. According to this disclosure, when the power cords of beds342, 362, 364 are unplugged, which usually happens when the bed is to bemoved from one location in a healthcare facility to another, theassociated Care Alert templates, such as those discussed below inconnection with FIGS. 10 and 11 and/or those discussed in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/189,781 which is incorporated by referenceherein, are automatically disabled. Thus, even if the bed 342, 362, 364is still able to communicate bed data wirelessly during transit from onelocation to another, the associated nurse call system does not initiateany communications with the wireless communication devices carried bythe caregivers. Such alarm notifications are not generally neededbecause other caregivers should be accompanying the bed 342, 362, 364during transit. Before the automatic disabling of the Care Alerttemplates, a slight delay period, such as 10 or 20 seconds, may berequired to elapse so that, if the bed's power plug was unpluggedinadvertently, there is time to plug the bed back in before the CareAlert templates are disabled.

In the case of beds 342, 362, 364 that communicate wirelessly, data issent from the bed's wireless transmitter to notify the associated nursecall system that the bed has been unplugged. Such data may betransmitted after the above-mentioned delay period (i.e., the beddetermines when the delay period has elapsed) or substantiallyimmediately in response to the bed being unplugged (i.e., the nurse callsystem determines when the delay period has elapsed). In the lattercase, appropriate data is sent from the bed's wireless transmitter ifthe bed is plugged back in before the delay period elapses so that thenurse call system does not disable the Care Alert template.

Beds having wireless communication circuitry may be powered by batteryback-up power or by one or more capacitors for a period of timesufficient to permit the transmission of data indicating that the bedhas been unplugged (and, in some embodiments, for a returnacknowledgment to be received by the bed). In the case of beds 342, 362,364 coupled to NIU 366, the NIU 366 sends appropriate signals to thenurse call system indicating either that the power cord of the bed hasbeen unplugged or that the bed has been unplugged from the NIU 366.Additionally or alternatively, the nurse call system may also concludethat the bed 342, 362, 364 has been unplugged and is in transit if adifferent wireless transceiver or receiver receives a signal from thebed 342, 362, 364, such as a wireless access point or a transceiver ofan associated locating-and-tracking system, and proceed to automaticallydisable the Care Alert alarm notifications as a result.

In some embodiments, after the bed 342, 362, 364 reaches its newlocation and the associated power cord is plugged back in, a caregiversignals the nurse call system to re-enable the Care Alert templates forthe particular bed. Caregivers may re-enable the Care Alert templatesfor the particular bed 342, 362, 364 by making appropriate entries oneither an audio station in the room, a computer at the master nurse callstation, or the wireless communication device carried by the caregiver.The re-enabling of the Care Alert template may be made by voice commandsentered into the wireless communication device in some embodiments.

Because the nurse call system receives bed ID data, the particular CareAlert template associated with the bed 342, 362, 364 is known by thenurse call system. Thus, unless overridden by users of the nurse callsystem, the association between bed, patient, and assigned caregivers ismaintained by the nurse call system even if the bed is moved to a newlocation. If one of the assigned caregivers does not re-enable the CareAlert template within a predetermined period of time after the nursecall system determines that the bed has been plugged back in (suchdetermination being made in any of the ways described above fordetermining that the bed has been unplugged), then a reminder tore-enable the Care Alert template may be initiated by the nurse callsystem to the wireless communication devices carried by one or more ofthe assigned caregivers.

In alternative embodiments, the nurse call system may re-enable the CareAlert templates automatically after bed 342, 362, 364 has been moved andthen plugged back in. Alternatively or additionally, the nurse callsystem may initiate a communication to the wireless communicationdevices of one or more assigned caregivers advising that the nurse callsystem will re-enable the Care Alert templates within a predeterminedperiod of time unless receiving instructions not to do so. Alternativelyor additionally, the nurse call system may initiate a communication tothe wireless communication devices of one or more assigned caregiverswith a notification that an assigned bed is now determined to be at anew location and the one or more caregivers should communicate viaappropriate measures (entries on a nurse call computer, voice commands,entries on a user interface of a wireless communication device, etc.) tore-enable the associated Care Alert templates.

The data received from beds 342, 362, 364 by the associated nurse callsystem may be provided to other systems of the hospital network. In oneexample, beds 342, 362, 364 having weigh scale systems transmit patientweight to a nurse call system which, in turn, transmits the patientweight data to an electronic medical records (EMR) system which, inturn, stores the weight information in the associated patient's record.The nurse call system may convert the data from one communicationprotocol into another communication protocol. Thus, patient weight datareceived by the nurse call system may be converted by the system intothe Health Level 7 (HL7) protocol for transmission to the EMR system. Insome embodiments, patient weight data is transmitted to the nurse callsystem only in response to a query initiated by a caregiver via entrieson a nurse call computer, voice commands, entries on a user interface ofa wireless communication device, etc. Such a system reduces extraneousdata transmissions on the network for data, such as patient weight, ofthe type which does not vary much with time and which may be desired bycaregivers only sporadically.

Hospital computer networks are usually coupled to the Internet.Accordingly, because beds 342, 362, 364 are coupled to the hospitalnetwork, data from beds 342, 362, 364 may be made available on theInternet. Such data is password protected in some embodiments. Inaddition, software upgrades may be communicated to beds 342, 362, 364and to the nurse call system by the bed manufacturer and the nurse callsystem manufacturer, for example, over the Internet and/or hospitalnetwork. The software upgrades to the bed may be received from thehospital network wirelessly or via a wired connection to the hospitalnetwork. Additionally or alternatively, the software of the nurse callsystem and/or bed may be field upgradeable via a computer that a fieldtechnician couples to the hospital network while visiting the facility.

Different types of hospital beds have different features and functions.Thus, beds 342, 362, 364 may not have all of the types of functions thatmay be configured on certain ones of the Care Alert templates. Forexample, not all beds have bed exit systems or weigh scale systems. Asanother example, many beds don't have specialized therapy surfaces suchas rotation surfaces, low-air-loss surfaces, or alternating pressuresurfaces. According to this disclosure, beds 342, 362, 364 transmit datato the associated nurse call system which indicates the bedconfiguration (e.g., the types of functions with which the bed isequipped). In some embodiments, the nurse call system “grays out” (e.g.,renders unusable) the portions of any Care Alert templates correspondingto feature and functions not present on the associated bed. In otherembodiments, the nurse call system removes such features or functionsfrom the Care Alert templates altogether. In still other embodiments,the nurse call system may provide a notification at the master nursecall station and/or via a transmission to an assigned caregiver'swireless communication device to indicate that a particular bed lacks aparticular function included on a particular Care Alert template thatthe user is attempting to configure for the particular bed. Suchnotifications may also be provided by the nurse call system in thosesituations where a Care Alert template is first assigned to a patient(such as via the ADT system as described above) and then, subsequently,a bed lacking certain features or functions is assigned to the patient.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a network 20 includes a plurality of beds 22which are configured to communicate with other devices of network 20 inthree different ways. For example, beds 22 are couplable to bedinterface units 24 (BIU's) via a wired serial peripheral interface (SPI)link, such as a 37-pin to 37-pin cable, and the BIU's are coupled toaudio stations 26 via a wired RS485 link. Locators 28 (e.g., IRreceivers or transceivers) of a locating-and-tracking system are alsocoupled to audio stations 26 via an RS485 link and are configured toreceive wireless signals, such a IR signals, from locating-and-trackingbadges that are worn by, or carried by, caregivers. Audio stations 26are coupled to a Digital Phone Switch (DXP) 30. In other embodiments aPrivate Branch Exchange (PBX) is used in lieu of DXP 30. DXP 30 iscoupled to a nurse call server 32 via an RS485 link. One or more nursecall computers are coupled to server 32 and display bed statusinformation and other information received by server 32 from beds 22through BIU's 24, audio stations 26, and one or more DXP's 30. Server 32and the associated one or more computers are sometimes referred to as anurse call module (NCM). Server 32 is sometimes referred to hereinsimply as computer 32. In essence, beds 22, BIU's 24, audio stations 26,locators 28, DXP 30, and server 32 comprises a “legacy” nurse callsystem of network 20. Such a legacy nurse call system is of the typeshown and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,561,412 and 5,699,038. Whencoupled to a legacy nurse call system in this manner, beds 22 transmitto server 32 “standard bed status data” of the type listed above in thisdisclosure in the first of the three tables. Optionally, server 32 iscoupled to a Hospital Ethernet 34 via a wired link, such as oneaccording to the 802.3 protocol which uses a Carrier Sense MultipleAccess with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) Access Method and PhysicalLayer Specifications-Media Access Control (MAC) Parameters (sometimesreferred to herein as an “802.3 link”). Ethernet 34 in FIG. 6 isintended to diagrammatically represent additional computer devices(e.g., PC's, servers, medical equipment, etc.) and additionalinfrastructure (e.g. cables, outlets, connectors, routers, gateways,etc.) of network 20.

Beds 22 are also couplable to network interface units (NIU's) 366 via awired SPI link. NIU's 366 of network 20 are substantially the same asNIU 366 described above in connection with FIGS. 3-5 and so the samereference numeral is used for NIU's 366 in FIG. 6. NIU's 366 are coupledto Ethernet switches 36 via 802.3 links and switches 36 are coupled toHospital Ethernet 34 via 802.3 links. One or more Care Alert serversand/or computers 38 (sometimes simply referred to as “computer 38”hereinafter) are coupled to Hospital Ethernet 34, as are otherhealthcare system such as an ADT system, for example. Care Alert serversand/or computers 38 have one or more software applications that receivebed status data from beds 22. For example, a workflow softwareapplication is operable to assign tasks to caregivers and other staffmembers of a healthcare facility. Such workflow software may be, forexample, NaviCare® software available from Hill-Rom Company, Inc.According to this disclosure, the workflow software application ofcomputer 38 assigns tasks to staff members based on information receivedfrom beds 22 as will be described in further detail below. Computer 38may also have a nurse call software application. When beds 22 arecoupled to computer 38 through NIU's 366 and the associated networkinfrastructure (e.g., Ethernet switches 36, Ethernet 34, etc.) then beds22 transmit to computer 38 an enhanced set of bed status data of thetype listed above in Tables 1-3, or a portion thereof depending upon theparticular features included on a particular bed 22.

Beds 22 are also capable of communicating wirelessly via wirelesscommunication modules (WCM's) that are included in or attached to beds22. WCM's are substantially similar to units 340 and/or units 360discussed above and are denoted as WCM's 340 in FIG. 6. WCM's 340communicate via a SPI link with the circuitry of the associated beds 22and communicate via a wireless 802.11b link with wireless access points42 that are located throughout the healthcare facility and that arecoupled to Ethernet switches 36 via 802.3 links. It is within the scopeof this disclosure for WCM's to communicate with access points 42according to any wireless communication protocol, such as an 802.11gprotocol, Bluetooth protocol, Zigbee protocol, and so on. As mentionedabove, Ethernet switches 36 are coupled to Ethernet 34 which is, inturn, coupled to computer 38 via a 802.3 link. Additionally, Ethernet 34is coupled to the Internet 44 via an 802.3 link. When beds 22 arecoupled to computer 38 through WCM's and the associated networkinfrastructure, then beds 22 wirelessly transmit to computer 38 anenhanced set of bed status data of the type listed above in the allthree tables, or a portion thereof depending upon the particularfeatures included on a particular bed 22.

As is evident from FIG. 6, beds 22 may be coupled to components of alegacy nurse call system, coupled to a nurse call system via wiredconnections to NIU's 366, or coupled to a nurse call system via wirelessconnections between WCM's 340 and wireless access points 42. The type ofconnection made by bed 22 (wired connection to BIU's 23, wiredconnection to NIU's 366, or wireless connection from WCM's to accesspoints 42) determines the type of bed status data that is transmitted bybeds 22. Thus, beds 22 have a plurality of connectivity optionsaccording to this disclosure. However it is within the scope of thisdisclosure for beds 22 to only communicate wirelessly using WCM's or forbeds to communicate only by wired connections to NIU's. Computer 38 andcomputer 32 may be configured to send bed status data to any othercomputer device coupled to Ethernet 34 and/or Internet 44.

Bed status data from beds 22 may be routed to different computers or todifferent software applications on the same computer. For example, somebed status data packets may be sent by beds 22 and used by a nurse callsoftware application and other bed status data packets may be sent bybeds 22 and used by some other software application, such as a workflowsoftware application. Each of the data packets of bed status data mayinclude a destination address, such an Internet Protocol (IP) address,of the computer for which the particular bed status data is destined. Aspreviously mentioned different bed status data may be destined fordifferent software applications run on the same computer, in which casethe IP address included in each packet of bed status data may or may nothave the same IP address depending upon whether or not the softwareapplications on the same computer have been assigned different IPaddresses. Alternatively or additionally, the bed status data may berouted to different software application, be they on the same computeror different computers, based on the data type. In addition, each of thedata packets of bed status data include bed identification data, such asa serial number of the associated bed 22 and/or an IP address and/or aMAC address of the associated bed 22. Furthermore, if known, then eachof the data packets of bed status data include location data, such as aroom number or other location ID indicating the location of theassociated bed 22 in the healthcare facility. In accordance with thisdisclosure, the IP address of each of beds 22 may be assigned by one ormore computer devices included in the Ethernet 34 in accordance with theDynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP).

Also according to this disclosure, surfaces (e.g., therapy mattresses,air mattresses, specialty mattresses) 46 may also have WCM's, such asunits 340, associated therewith. Such surfaces 46 with WCM's are simplyreferred to herein as “surfaces 46.” Surfaces 46 having a control unitin a housing that attaches to a footboard of a bed, or to some otherportion of the bed, are generally known in the art. Such surface controlunits typically have pumps, compressors, blowers, valves, manifolds, andthe like, as well as electrical control circuitry and user interfaces toprovide control signals to the various other components housed in thecontrol unit. Other surfaces 46 may integrate such a control unit into afoot section of the surface. According to this disclosure, wirelesscommunication circuitry is included in or attached to such a surfacecontrol unit and is operable to wirelessly transmit surface status data.The wireless communication circuitry included in a surface 46 is alsoable to receive wireless messages. Thus, as shown in FIG. 6, surfaces 46communicate wirelessly with access points 42 via wireless 802.11b links.The discussion above concerning the handling of bed status data packetsis equally applicable to surface status data packets. It is contemplatedby this disclosure, that a surface (with or without a WCM) may connectto bed 22 via a wired connection and the bed 22 may then wirelesslytransmit the surface status data along with the bed status data from itsWCM 340. In such embodiments, surface control messages may be receivedby bed 22 from computer 38 and then communicated to the surface via thewired connection.

As shown diagrammatically in FIG. 7, it is contemplated by thisdisclosure that a surface 46 having wireless communication capabilitymay be supported on an associated bed 22 which also has wirelesscommunication capability. In such instances, surface 46 and bed 22 maycommunicate with one or more of the same wireless access points 42 asshown diagrammatically in FIG. 7. Typically, such wireless communicationwill be at different frequencies and/or at different times, althoughthis need not be the case. Thus, the wireless communication circuitry ofbed 22 and the wireless communication circuitry of surface 46 operateindependently of each other such that bed 22 transmits its bed statusdata to computer 38 through the associated network infrastructure andsurface 46 transmits its surface status data to computer 38 through theassociated network infrastructure.

Computer 38 is operable to send command or control messages through thenetwork infrastructure to beds 22 and surfaces 46 to control some aspectof the operation of beds 22 and surfaces 46. The words “command” and“control” are intended to be interchangeable according to thisdisclosure and each is intended to have the broad meaning of both.Therefore, computer 38 is operable to receive bed status data from bed22, process it, and then, based on the bed status data from bed 22,transmit a control message to surface 46. For example, if the bed statusdata from bed 22 indicates that a CPR release handle of the bed has beenpulled, then the control message to surface 46 may result in the surfacegoing into a max inflate mode to harden the air bladders in surface 46in preparation for CPR being performed on the patient or, alternatively,the control message may result in surface 46 completely deflating sothat the patient is supported on underlying bed sections in preparationfor CPR being performed on the patient.

As another example, if the bed status data from bed 22 indicates thatcasters of the hospital bed have been unbraked, then the command messageto surface 46 may indicate that a therapy, such as lateral rotationtherapy, alternating pressure therapy, percussion therapy, etc. shouldbe stopped in preparation for the bed 22 being moved to a new location.Computer 38 is also operable to receive the surface status data fromsurface 46, process it, and then, based on the surface status data,transmit a control message to bed 22. For example, if the surface statusdata indicates that lateral rotation therapy is active, then the controlmessage to bed 22 may lock out a head section motor to prevent the headsection of the bed 22 from being raised during the lateral rotationtherapy. Computer 38 may be configured to send surface status data toany other computer device coupled to Ethernet 34 and/or Internet 44,including sending surface status data to Workflow Computer System 40.

Referring now to FIG. 8, one embodiment of bed 22 (illustratively, aVersaCare™ bed marketed by Hill-Rom Company, Inc.) has an associated WCM340 mounted to a base frame 48 of bed 22. Bed 22 of FIG. 8 also has auser interface 50 accessible on the outwardly facing side of a siderail52 of bed 22. In FIG. 8, an enlarged view of user interface 50 is shownso the various indicia associated with various control buttons can beeseen more easily. Various buttons that are pressed to control associatedfunctions of bed 22 are included on user interface 50. These buttonsinclude the following: a chair button 51 to articulate a mattresssupport deck of the bed 22 into a chair position; a “go to flat” button52 to move the mattress support deck into a flat position; aTrendelenburg button 53 to tilt the mattress support deck into aTrendelenburg position; a reverse Trendelenberg button 54 to tilt themattress support deck into a reverse Trendelenburg position; a head upbutton 55 to pivot a head section of the mattress support deck upwardly,a head down button 56 to pivot the head section of the mattress supportdeck downwardly; a knee up button 57 to pivot a thigh section of themattress support deck upwardly; a knee down button 58 to pivot the thighsection of the mattress support deck downwardly; a raise button 59 toraise the mattress support deck and an upper frame carrying the mattresssupport deck upwardly relative to base frame 48; a lower button 60 tolower the mattress support deck and the upper frame downwardly relativeto base frame 48; a key button 61 that is pressed to enable the use ofother buttons for certain bed functions; a foot retract button 62 toshorten a foot section of the mattress support deck; a foot extendbutton 63 to lengthen the foot section of the mattress support deck; anurse call button 64 to place a nurse call to a remote nurse callcomputer; a lock button 65 that is pressed simultaneously with otherbuttons to lock or unlock certain bed functions; a hi/lo motor lockoutbutton 66 to lock out hi/lo motors of bed 22 to prevent the upper frameand mattress support deck from being raised and lowered relative to baseframe 48; a head motor lockout 67 to lock out a head section actuatorfrom raising and lowering the head section of the mattress support deck;and a thigh motor lockout 68 to lock out a thigh section motor fromraising and lowering a thigh section of the mattress support deck.

Bed 22 has a label 76 with bed ID data 78 thereon as shown in FIG. 8. Insome embodiments, the bed ID data 78 is the MAC address assigned to bed22. Additional details of bed 22 of FIG. 8 are shown and described inU.S. Pat. No. 6,957,461 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No.2005/0172405 which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.

In connection with the wireless communication capability of bed 22 ofFIG. 8, user interface 50 has an enabled button 70 with an indicator 71,a housekeeping button 72 with an indicator 73, and an on-line indicator74. In some embodiments, indicators 71, 73, 74 are light emitting diodes(LED's), such as LED's that are operable to shine red, green, and/oramber. For example, when bed 22 is successfully wirelessly communicatingwith a wireless access point 42 of network, indicator 74 may shine greenand when no wireless communications are taking place, indicator 74 mayshine red. Indicator 74 may shine yellow during a time period in whichbed 22 is attempting to reestablish wireless communication with network20 after wireless communications are initially lost. In otherembodiments, one or more of indicators 71, 73, 74 may comprise singlecolor LED's.

Successive presses of enabled button 70 enable and suspend a Care Alerttemplate for bed 22. Successive presses of housekeeping button 72 makesa housekeeping request and cancels the housekeeping request. However, inorder for presses of buttons 70, 72 to be effective, key button 61 mustfirst be pressed and held for a predetermined period of time, such asone second. Once button 61 has been pressed for the predetermined periodof time, then buttons 70, 72 may be pressed within another predeterminedperiod of time, such as 20 seconds, to change the state of theassociated feature of buttons 70, 72. This control scheme for buttons61, 70, 72 prevents inadvertent presses of buttons 70, 72 from changingthe associated state of the associated feature. In some embodiments,indicator 71 of button 70 shines green when the Care Alert templateassociated with bed 22 is enabled, blinks or flashes green when the CareAlert template associated with bed 22 is suspended, and is turned offwhen no Care Alert template is set up for bed 22. In some embodiments,indicator 73 shines green when a housekeeping request has been made by apress of button 72 and is turned off when no housekeeping request hasbeen made or after a housekeeping request has been canceled. Thehousekeeping request may be canceled before or after a staff memberactually cleans the bed and/or room.

In the illustrative example, button 72 has thereon a mop and bucket iconwhich matches the appearance of a mop and bucket icon which is displayedon one or more display screens that are associated with the workflowsoftware application of computer 38 to indicate that a housekeeping taskhas been assigned to a staff member of the healthcare facility. The mopand bucket icon is of the type used in the NaviCare® software marketedby Hill-Rom Company, Inc. Thus, button 72 may be pressed to indicatethat bed 22 needs to be cleaned (e.g., its linen and/or bed sheetschanged, sprayed with a disinfectant spray, wiped down with adisinfectant, etc.) or even that the room in which bed 22 is situatedneeds to be cleaned and/or readied for the next patient. Therefore, thebed status data transmitted from bed 22, either wirelessly via theassociated WCM 340 or via the wired connection to an associated NIU 366,in response to button 72 being pressed includes housekeeping data thatis destined for the workflow software application of computer 38 in theillustrative example.

Receipt by computer 38 of the housekeeping data indicating that the bedand/or room needs to cleaned results in the workflow softwareapplication of computer 38 automatically assigning a housekeeping taskto a selected staff member. Computer 38 then displays the assigned taskon various display screens with a mop and bucket icon and the assignedstaff member's name (or other staff member ID). If the assigned staffmember is carrying a portable wireless communication device, such as apager or a Vocera™ badge, then computer 38 may also initiate a wirelessmessage to the portable communication device of the assigned staffmember in response to receipt of housekeeping data from bed 22. In someembodiments, after button 72 is pressed to send housekeeping data tosystem 40, button 72 may be pressed again to cancel the housekeepingrequest or to indicate that the housekeeping task has been completed asdiscussed above.

Referring now to FIG. 9, another embodiment of bed 22 (illustratively, aTotalCare® bed marketed by Hill-Rom Company, Inc.) includes an enabledindicator 80 and an on-line status indicator 82 on a base frame 84 ofthe bed 22. An enable button (not shown) is provided on one or more ofsiderails 86 of bed 22. Other than the fact that indicators 80, 82 aremounted to base frame 84 of the FIG. 9 bed 22, whereas indicators 71, 74are mounted to siderail 52 of the FIG. 8 bed 22, indicators 80, 82 aresubstantially the same as indicators 71, 74 and therefore, thediscussion above of indicators 71, 74 is equally applicable toindicators 80, 82. Optionally, the FIG. 9 bed 22 may also include ahousekeeping button, with or without an associated housekeepingindicator, on one siderails 86 which functions in the same manner asbutton 72 (and indicator 73, if present) described above. Bed 22 of FIG.9 also has a label 76 with bed ID data 78 thereon. Bed ID data includesnumerical data and a bar code in the illustrative example of label 76 ofthe FIG. 9 bed. Label 76 is substantially the same as label 76 so thesame reference numeral is used. In some embodiments, the bed ID data 78is the MAC address assigned to the FIG. 9 bed 22. Additional details ofbed 22 of FIG. 9 are shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,548which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

FIG. 10 is a screen shot of a “Bed Alerts” template screen 222, which isanother example of a Care Alert template (see the Care Alert templateexamples and discussion in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/189,781which is already incorporated by reference herein), that appears on adisplay screen of computer 38 to enable a caregiver to select variousalert conditions for an associated bed 22 to which one or more assigned.Screen 222 has configurable alert conditions associated with the bedstatus data received by computer 38 from the associated bed 22. Screen222 has various check boxes and radio buttons that are selected inscreen 222 to configure system 112 with the associated alert conditions.Screen also has various text boxes in which data is typed.

Screen 222 includes a Bed Rails window 256 which includes therein a HeadRails portion with a “Left head rail must be” check box 258 and a “Righthead rail must be” check box 260. Window 256 also has a Foot Railsportion with a “Left foot rail must be” check box 262, and a “Right footrail must be” check box 264. Beside each check box 258, 260, 262, 264 isan associated Up radio button 266 and an associated Down radio button268. Window 256 also has an “At least one foot rail is up” check box 263and a “Notify if all side rails up” check box 265. Thus, byappropriately checking boxes 258, 260, 262, 263, 264, 265 andappropriately selecting radio buttons 266, 268, computer 38 willautomatically send a notification to one or more assigned caregiverswhen the associated condition is violated as indicated by bed statusdata received by computer 38.

Screen 22 has a Bed Exit window 230 with a “Bed exit must be armed”check box 232 and a “Bed exit alarm mode” check box 234. Window 230 alsohas a menu arrow icon 236 which is selected to cause a drop down menu ofbed exit alarm mode options to appear. Screen 222 further has a BedHeight window 248 which includes therein a “Bed must remain in lowestposition” check box 250 and a Bed Brakes window 251 which includes a“Bed brakes must be applied” check box 252. Screen has a “PressureRelief Mode” window 238 with a “Pressure relief mode must be enabled”check box 240. Thus, by appropriately checking boxes 232, 234, 240, 250,252 and appropriately entering data in box 236 (box 236 is only used forsome bed some embodiments), computer 38 will automatically send anotification to one or more assigned caregivers if an associatedcondition is violated as indicated by bed status data received bycomputer 38.

Screen 222 also has a Motor Lock Out window 270 which includes thereinan “All motor lockout must remain on” check box 272, a “High-Low motorlockout must remain on” check box 274, a “Head motor lockout must remainon” check box 276, and a “Knee motor lockout must remain on” check box278. Thus, by appropriately checking boxes 272, 274, 276, 278, computer38 will automatically send a notification to one or more assignedcaregivers if an associated condition is violated as indicated by bedstatus data received by computer 38.

Screen 222 further has a CPR Mode window 280 with a “Notify if CPR modeis activated” check box 282. In addition, screen 222 has a Chair Modewindow 282 with a “Notify if patient is up in chair position for” checkbox 284, a greater than/less than text box 286, and a time text box 288with a drop down menu arrow icon 290. Screen 22 has a Head Angle window292 with a “Notify when head angle less than” check box 294, a firstangle text box 296, a second angle text box 298 (with the phrase“Degrees OR Greater Than” between boxes 294, 296), an hours text box300, and a minutes text box 302 with a drop down menu arrow icon 304.Finally, screen 222 has a Patients reminders window 306 with a “Sendreminder on” check box 308, an hours clock box 312, a minutes clock box314, and an hours interval box 316. Thus, by appropriately checkingboxes 282, 284, 294, 308 and appropriately entering data in boxes 286,288,296, 298, 300, 302, 310, 312, 314, 316, computer 38 willautomatically send a reminder to one or more assigned caregivers at theappropriate time when the associated condition is met.

Across the top of screen 222 are tabs which are selectable to view anassociated Care Alert template. For example, the bed alerts of FIG. 10appear when a Bed Alerts tab 318 is selected. In the illustrativeexample, a Therapy Alerts tab 320 also appears on screen 222. Selectionof tab 320 results in a Therapy Alerts screen 100 being displayed on thedisplay screen of computer 38 as shown in FIG. 11. Screen 100 has aPercussion Therapy window 102 with a remind check box 104 adjacent to anhours text box 106 and a minutes text box 108. The phrase “After end oflast percussion” appears to the right of box 108. Window 102 also has anotify check box 110 adjacent to an hours text box 112, minutes text box114, and a before/after text box 116. The phrase “Percussion ends”appears to right of box 116. Thus, by appropriately checking boxes 104,110 and appropriately entering data in boxes 106, 108, 112, 114, 116,computer 38 will automatically send a reminder to one or more assignedcaregivers a predetermined period of time after the last percussion of apercussion therapy surface and/or will notify one or more assignedcaregivers that percussion therapy will end within a predetermined timeor has ended a predetermined period of time ago.

Screen 100 also has a Vibration Therapy window 118 with a remind checkbox 120 adjacent to an hours text box 122 and a minutes text box 124.The phrase “After end of last vibration” appears to the right of box124. Window 118 also has a notify check box 126 adjacent to an hourstext box 128, minutes text box 130, and a before/after text box 132. Thephrase “Vibration ends” appears to the right of box 132. Thus, byappropriately checking boxes 120, 126 and appropriately entering data inboxes 122, 124, 128, 130, 132, computer 38 will automatically send areminder to one or more assigned caregivers a predetermined period oftime after the last vibration of a vibration therapy surface and/or willnotify one or more assigned caregivers that vibration therapy will endwithin a predetermined time or has ended a predetermined period of timeago.

Screen 100 further has a Rotation Therapy window 134 with a notify checkbox 136 adjacent to an hours text box 138, minutes text box 140, and abefore/after text box 142. The phrase “Rotation ends” appears to theright of box 142. Thus, by checking boxes 136 and appropriately enteringdata in boxes 138, 140, 142, computer 38 will automatically notify oneor more assigned caregivers that rotation therapy will end within apredetermined time or has ended a predetermined period of time ago.Window 134 also has a “Notify if rotation therapy is suspended by thesystem” check box 144. When box 144 is checked, computer 38automatically notifies a caregiver if rotation therapy stops, such asmay occur, for example, if a siderail of bed 22 is lowered duringrotation therapy.

Additionally, screen 100 has a Reminder to Turn Patient window 146 witha notify check box 148 adjacent to an hours text box 150 and a minutestext box 152. The phrase “After turn assist ends” appears to the rightof box 152. Thus, by checking box 148 and appropriately entering data inboxes 150, 152, computer 38 will automatically notify one or moreassigned caregivers that turn assist has ended a predetermined period oftime ago. Window 146 also has a Reset Timer (If Turn Assist Used) checkbox 154. If box 154 is checked, then computer 38 will automaticallyreset a timer back to the start of the predetermined period entered inboxes 150, 152. Screen 100 has a FlexAFoot Mode window 156 with aFlexAFoot Must Be Activated check box 158. FlexAFoot is a bed featurethat permits extension and retraction of a foot section of bed 22. Thus,when box 158 is checked, bed 22 must be in a mode that permits extensionand retraction of the foot section (e.g., the extension and retractionfeature of the foot section should not be locked out). Several of thetext boxes of screen 100 have drop down menu arrow icons 160 which, whenselected, cause an appropriate menu, such as a minutes menu (listing00-60) or a before/after menu to appear on screen 100.

As discussed above, when various ones of the alert conditions, remindconditions, or notify conditions (hereinafter referred to collectivelyas “alert conditions”) selected on screens 100, 222 are met, computer 38transmits a message to one or more assigned caregivers. According tothis disclosure such messages regarding alert conditions are transmittedwirelessly to portable wireless communication devices carried by the oneor more caregivers. The following are exemplary of the types of wirelesscommunications initiated by computer 38 in response to data received bycomputer 38 from bed 22 and/or surface 46 matching one or more of thealert conditions selected on one or more of the Care Alert templates ofscreens 100, 222: paging a pager (with or without an associated textmessage indicating the alert condition and patient room number); sendinga selected preprogrammed audio message to caregivers who are carryingvoice communication badges (such as Vocera™ badges) or handsets (such asSpectralink™ handsets or Ascom™ handsets); sending a text message tovoice communication badges, handsets, or other wireless communicationdevices (PDA's, cell phones, etc.) having text messaging capability; andsending a preprogrammed audio message to an audio station at thelocation where an assigned caregiver is determined to be bylocating-and-tracking software of computer 38.

Based on the foregoing, it will be appreciated that when an alertcondition occurs, computer 38 operates to notify one or more caregiversof the alert condition automatically via a page and/or text messageand/or audio message. Thus, no caregiver at a master nurse station, forexample, needs to take any further action to notify assigned caregiversof alert conditions. A database of computer 38 stores information aboutthe types of wireless communication devices carried by each of thecaregivers and computer 38 operates to initiate the appropriate type ofwireless communication based on the particular type of wirelesscommunication device carried by the associated caregiver.

According to this disclosure, when any of beds 22 connect to network 20,computer 38 receives configuration data from the bed 22 which indicatesthe firmware version stored in memory of bed 22. Computer 38 stores thelatest version of bed firmware for various models of beds, which bedfirmware on computer 38 may be sent to computer 38 by the bedmanufacturer via the Internet or installed on computer 38 on site.Computer 38 compares the firmware version indicated by the configurationdata with the latest version stored in computer 38. If the configurationdata indicates that the bed 22 does not have the latest version offirmware installed, then computer 38 automatically downloads the latestversion of firmware to bed 22. FIGS. 12-16 show a state diagram and flowcharts that illustrate this process. Additional details of bedprogramming is described in Appendix 5 which was attached to U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/773,286 which already is incorporated byreference herein and which will be accessible via the USPTO website whenthe present application is published.

A state diagram 500 of the firmware download algorithm of bed 22includes an enter point 502, an offline mode 504, a link mode 506, asafe mode 508, an online mode 510 and a boot load mode 512 as shown inFIG. 12. Enter point 502 indicates that the algorithm starts in offlinemode 504 which logically proceeds to link mode 506 if bed 22 has an IPaddress or which logically proceeds to safe mode 508 if bed 22 does notreceive an IP address. From link mode 506, the algorithm logicallyproceeds to safe mode if bed 22 is unable to communicate with server 38or logically proceeds to online mode 510 if bed 22 is able tocommunicate with server 38. From safe mode 508, the algorithm logicallyproceeds to offline mode 504 is a fatal error is detected or logicallyproceeds to link mode 506 if no fatal error is detected. From onlinemode 510, the algorithm logically proceeds to boot load mode 512 if thefirm ware of bed 22 needs to be reprogrammed, logically proceeds tooffline mode 504 if bed 22 needs to be configured with an IP address,logically proceeds to link mode 506 if bed 22 receives a reset command,or logically proceeds to safe mode 508 is an error is detected. Fromboot load mode 512, the algorithm logically proceeds to offline mode 504if bed 22 successfully downloads the new firmware, logically proceeds tosafe mode 508 is a programming error is detected, or logically proceedsto online mode 510 if firmware corruption is detected.

Referring now to FIG. 13, if NIU 366 powers up or a state machine resetis received, the algorithm proceeds to offline mode 504 as indicated atblock 514. In the offline mode 504, bed 22 determines whether a defaultstartup has occurred as indicated at block 516. If a default startup hasoccurred, then bed 22 communicates using default parameters as indicatedat block 518 and proceeds to link mode 506. If a default startup has notoccurred, then bed 22 determines whether a static IP address is presentas indicated at block 520. If a static IP address is present, then bed22 proceeds to link mode 506. If a static IP address is not present,then bed 22 attempts a DHCP configuration to get an IP address for thebed 22 and/or server 38 as indicated at block 522. At block 524, bed 22determines whether the attempt of block 522 was successful. If theattempt at block 524 was not successful, bed 22 proceeds to safe mode508 as indicated at block 526. If the attempt at block 524 wassuccessful, bed 22 proceeds to link mode 506. Bed 22 also enters linkmode 506 if the bed 22 is plugged in and the NIU is not offline.

Still referring to FIG. 13, after entering link mode 506, bed 22 sends anew end point message, receives a request configuration message, sends aprocess file message, receives a file processed message, and sends aninputs mask and initial data message as indicated at block 528. At block530, bed 22 determines whether all of the messages associated with block528 were successfully sent or received, as the case may be. If all ofthe messages at block 528 were not successfully sent or received, thenbed proceeds to safe mode 508 as indicated at block 532. If all of themessages at block 528 were successfully sent and received, then bed 22sends a heartbeat message as indicated at block 534 and proceeds toonline mode 510. According to this disclosure, the heartbeat messagesent by bed 22 has the format “Copyright © Bed Manufacturer Year” (e.g.Copyright © Hill-Rom 2006).

If bed 22 enters safe mode 508, either at block 526 or block 532 of FIG.13, then bed 22 will delay further algorithm execution for a randomlyestablished period of 5 to 10 seconds as indicated at block 536 shown inFIG. 14 and then proceed to determine whether a fatal error has occurredas indicated at block 538 shown in FIG. 14. If a fatal error has notoccurred, then bed 22 will proceed to link mode 506 as indicated atblock 540. If a fatal error has occurred, then bed 22 will proceed tooffline mode 504 as indicated at block 542.

If bed 22 enters online mode 510 from block 534 in FIG. 13, then bed 22determines whether a new IP address needs to be configured as indicatedat block 544 shown in FIG. 15. If a new IP address does need to beconfigured, then bed 22 communicates with network 20 to configure a newIP address as indicated at block 546 and then proceeds to offline mode504 as indicated at block 548. If no IP address needs to be configuredat block 544, then bed 22 determines whether a boot load command hasbeen received as indicated at block 550. If no boot load command hasbeen received at block 550, bed 22 determines whether a reset commandhas been received as indicated at block 552. If no reset command hasbeen received at block 552, then bed 22 process other types of messagesas indicated at block 554 and loops back to block 544. If a resetcommand has been received at block 552, then bed 22 proceeds to linkmode 506 as indicated at block 556. If a boot load command has beenreceived at block 550, then bed 22 proceeds to boot load mode 512 asindicated at block 558.

Referring to FIG. 16, after bed 22 enters boot load mode 512, bed 22enters a safe state as indicated at block 560, downloads firmware fromserver 38 as indicated at block 562, and verifies the firmware asindicated at block 564. Bed 22 then proceeds to determine whether thefirmware is correct as indicated at block 566. If the firmware is notcorrect, bed 22 determines whether a fourth attempt to determine if thefirmware is correct has been made as indicated at block 568. If theattempt to determine if the firmware is correct is not the fourthattempt, then bed 22 loops back to block 562 and executes the steps ofblocks 562, 564, 566 once again. If the attempt to determine if the firmis correct is the fourth attempt, bed 22 sends an error message toserver 38 as indicated at block 570 and proceeds to online mode 510 asindicated at block 572.

If bed 22 determines that the firmware is correct at block 566, bed 22programs the firmware into flash memory of bed 22 as indicated at block574 and then determines whether the flash memory was successfullyprogrammed with the new firmware as indicated at block 576. If the flashmemory was not successfully programmed, bed 22 determines whether afourth attempt to program the flash memory has been made as indicated atblock 578. If the attempt to program the flash memory is not the fourthattempt, then bed 22 loops back to block 574 to make another attempt toprogram the new firmware into the flash memory. If the attempt toprogram the flash memory is the fourth attempt at block 578, then bed 22sends a fatal error message to server 38 as indicated at block 580 andproceeds to safe mode 508 as indicated at block 582. If the flash memorywas successfully programmed at block 576, bed 22 sends afirmware-downloaded message as indicated at block 584 and proceeds todetermine whether a reset command has been received from server 38 asindicated at block 586. Bed 586 waits in a continuous loop at block 586until a reset command is received from server 38 and then, once thereset command is received, bed 22 proceeds to offline mode 504 asindicated at block 588.

Although certain embodiments have been described in detail above,variations and modifications exist within the scope and spirit of thisdisclosure as described and as defined in the following claims.

1.-20. (canceled)
 21. An interface unit for use in a healthcare facilityhaving a computer located remotely from a patient room which has apatient bed therein, the interface unit being located in the patientroom and spaced from the patient bed, the interface unit comprising: afirst connector which is communicatively coupleable to the hospital bed,a second connector which is communicatively coupleable to the computer,and circuitry comprising at least two device connectors for connectionto external devices, the circuitry storing a unit identification (ID)that is associated with the patient room of the healthcare facility, theunit ID being transmitted by the circuitry through the second connectorwithout transmitting the unit ID through the first and third connectors.22. The interface unit of claim 21, wherein at least one deviceconnector of the at least two device connectors comprises an Ethernetport for connection of the circuitry to an Ethernet of the healthcarefacility.
 23. The interface unit of claim 22, wherein the Ethernet portcomprises an RJ-45 port.
 24. The interface unit of claim 22, wherein thedata from the hospital bed is received by the circuitry via the firstconnector according to a first communication protocol and the circuitryconverts the data from the first protocol into an Ethernet protocol. 25.The interface unit of claim 24, wherein the data from the hospital bedis sent to the computer via the second connector according to the firstprotocol.
 26. The interface unit of claim 21, wherein the data from thehospital bed is passed through to the computer via the first and secondconnectors.
 27. The interface unit of claim 26, wherein the data fromthe hospital bed that is passed through to the computer includes a nursecall signal.
 28. The interface unit of claim 26, wherein the data fromthe hospital bed that is passed through to the computer includes asignal for controlling room lighting.
 29. The interface unit of claim26, wherein the data from the hospital bed that is passed through to thecomputer includes a signal for controlling entertainment.
 30. Theinterface unit of claim 21, wherein at least one device connector of theat least two device connectors comprises a JTAG connector.
 31. Theinterface unit of claim 21, wherein the first connector iscommunicatively coupled to the hospital bed via a wired data link. 32.The interface unit of claim 21, wherein the first connector iscommunicatively coupled to the hospital bed via a wireless data link.33. The interface unit of claim 21, wherein the second connector iscommunicatively coupled to the computer via a wired data link.
 34. Theinterface unit of claim 21, wherein the second connector iscommunicatively coupled to the computer via a wireless data link. 35.The interface unit of claim 21, wherein at least one device connector ofthe at least two device connectors comprises at least one generalpurpose input/output (GPIO) connector.
 36. The interface unit of claim21, wherein the at least two device connectors comprises at least twogeneral purpose input/output (GPIO) connectors.
 37. The interface unitof claim 21, wherein at least one device connector of the at least twodevice connector comprises a serial peripheral interface (SPI)connector.
 38. The interface unit of claim 21, wherein the at least twodevice connectors comprises multiple general purpose input/output (GPIO)connectors and a serial peripheral interface (SPI) connector.
 39. Theinterface unit of claim 38, wherein the at least two device connectorsfurther comprises a JTAG connector.
 40. The interface unit of claim 38,wherein the at least two device connectors further comprises an RJ-45port.